Abstract
To some people, a ‘canon’ is a piece of classical music. To some Christians, the ‘canon’ is merely a list of sacred texts constructed a long ago. To some, the ‘canon’ is not very relevant to the 21st century; it just relates to controversies over what is ‘in’ and what is ‘out’. Yet, this monograph discusses new aspects concerning the notion of the Christian canon in some insightful ways. A revised doctoral dissertation of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden (2011) where the author studied under Samuel Byrskog, Bokedal asks the following specific questions: ‘What is the biblical canon? What does it mean that the Bible is functioning as canon for the church?’ (p. 5). In it, he argues that ‘the formation and continuous usage of the Christian canon is an act of literary preservation and actualization of the church’s apostolic normative tradition’ (p. 8). With insights from semiotic studies and Gadamerian hermeneutics of tradition, four aspects are explored on this complex and controversial topic in four parts: (1) effective-historical and linguistic; (2) textual-material; (3) ritual; and (4) ideational.
The first two chapters (Part 1) deal with the effective-historical and linguistic aspects. In them, Bokedal claims that the biblical canon and its formation can be understood as a whole only if the hermeneutical dimension of Wirkungsgeschichte is considered. The apostolic formula ‘the Scripture and the Lord’ sums up the narrative and meta-narrative framework for the Christian Bible.
Chapters 3-6 (Part 2) deal with the textual and material aspects. Bokedal raises three issues. (a) The introduction of the system of nomina sacra into the biblical texts and the change of book format to codex by the Christian communities. Both are decisive steps in the canonical process such that ‘a central aspect of the NT canon formation’ can be dated to around 100 CE (p. 122). Such a canon, as ‘a collection of prior collections of writings’, and delimited by the use of codex, reflects both the bearings of ideational and material-textual dimensions (p. 155). (b) The dialectic between oral and written forms of textual transmission. The orality of the gospel tradition lived on in the midst of the written scriptural tradition; the two are in ‘vivid interdependence’. (c) A broader notion of textuality. The biblical texts, as texts, are canonical and classical writings with the main objective to ‘make up a meaningful whole precisely as texts,’ not just the original situation reflected in the narrative (p. 231). They should be ‘affirmed, embraced and cultivated by present communities and readers’ (p. 233).
Chapter 7 (Part 3) tackles the ritual aspect by seeing the meaning of a canon under the light of liturgical context. The mutuality between worship and teaching, the lex orandi, lex credendi in relation to the early church’s canonical reading of the texts implies a ‘sacralising of Christian writings’ (p. 277). Their practice of lectio continua shows how these texts were privileged in the assembly.
Chapters 8-9 (Part 4) focus on the mutual dependency of the Rule of Faith and the Scripture. Together they ‘make up the Bible in its function as canon’ (p. 308). The ‘logical coherence of the canonization process and the canon,’ in terms of scriptural authority, integrity and criterion, function as textual foundation for the early church. Not only do the first and last N.T. books present themselves as ‘Scripture’, the canon as an authoritative instrument, serves as ‘a free power vis-à-vis its interpreters’ (p. 356).
Chapter 10 concludes by re-emphasizing Bokedal’s central thesis that the formation and continuous usage of the canon is ‘an act of literary preservation and actualization of the church’s apostolic normative tradition –‘the Scripture and the Lord,’ by which the church is and remains church’ (pp. 8, 362). Thus, the process of canon formation is neither merely an act of cataloguing a list, nor an ad hoc development in the late fourth century. It is not merely something of the past but is also an ongoing process.
Bokedal’s work opens up new horizons for revisiting the notion of canon for twenty-first century readers/Christians. It is full of insightful comments and suggestions, summing up and building upon important works in the field. It deserves the widest possible circulation.